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Statement by Mr. Drahoslav Štefánek, Chargé d´affaires a.i., Deputy Permanent Representative of Slovakia Special session of the Human Rights Council on the Situation of Human Rights in the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Geneva, 28 November 2008 Mr. President, Madam High Commissioner, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, At the outset, I would like to reiterate our full support for the statement made by H.E. Ambassador Jean-Baptiste Mattéi, Permanent Representative of France, speaking on behalf of the European Union. Slovakia was among those member states of the Human Rights Council, which have supported the convening the Special Session of the Human Rights Council on the Situation of Human Rights in the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The holding of this special session is fully in line with one of the core mandates given to the Council – which is to address situations of violations of human rights. The present situation in the Eastern part of the DRC is a matter of concern to the international community after a new outbreak of hostilities in August this year and this Council must not turn a blind eye to it. The recent armed conflict, which spread throughout North Kivu, has left over 250 000 displaced persons and resulted in many casualties among civilian population. In its unanimously adopted resolution 1843 (2008) from 20 November 2008, the Security Council expressed its extreme concern at the deteriorating humanitarian situation and in particular the targeted attacks against civilians, sexual violence, recruitment of child soldiers and summary executions. We have studied with the utmost attention the recent report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon of 21 November 2008, presented to the Security Council. The reading of the report is worrisome when it states that FARDC and national police elements were responsible for serious human rights violations, including arbitrary executions, rape, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. According to the report, Congolese and different foreign armed forces also perpetrated serious human rights abuses such as mass killings, torture, abductions, torture, abductions, the forced recruitment of children, forced displacement, the destruction of camps for IDPs, forced labour and sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence. Therefore, it would be fully justified in our view, in addition to the mandate already 2 given to the seven special procedures in the HRC resolution 7/20, to involve the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment to examine the situation of human rights in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We would also like to underline the cooperative spirit of the Council, which the cooperation of the Government concerned is a vital element of. We welcome the cooperation of the Government of the DRC with the thematic special procedures so far and we do believe that this cooperation will continue to address the situation in the North Kivu. By the same token, we also welcome the cooperation of the Government extended so far to the International Criminal Court and we call on the Government, , to bring to justice, whether at national or international level, all the perpetrators of crimes committed in the recent conflict in the Eastern part of the DRC, particularly in the province of North Kivu. Let me conclude by expressing our hope and wish to the Congolese people to finally enjoy peace in their country. The international community should provide its utmost assistance to make it happen. Thank you for your attention. 2